5 Books That You Can Read With Your Mom

This Mother's Day, why not try a gift you and your mom can both enjoy? No, I don't mean the "Oh, you don't like this sweater with a pug on it? Okay, I'll keep it!" kind. Instead, try a book gift for Mother's Day this year. For good measure, grab a copy for yourself. That's right: instant family book club.

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'A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid from the Taliban in Plain Sight' by Maria Toorpakai

If being curious about other peoples' lives is something you and your mother have in common, A Different Kind of Daughter is the perfect fit. As a child, Toorpakai chafed against the social strictures imposed on girls in Waziristan, Pakistan. Seeing her father rejected by his family for championing women's rights, and knowing her mother fought hard to gain the education she so badly desired, Toorpakai burned all her dresses and decided to live as a boy called Genghis Khan. Her life so far has been a feat of bravery, fear, and determination, as she defies convention to become one of Pakistan's best squash players and tries to avoid the attention of the Taliban.

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'All Things Cease to Appear' by Elizabeth Brundage

This moody literary thriller about a family that moves to an old, remote farmhouse might actually have you looking at your family members askance. Even so, this brooding novel is a beautifully written treat. After art history professor George Clare comes home to find his wife murdered, all eyes are on him: a city slicker who never quite fit in in his new town. Brundage's fourth novel is as much a disturbing portrait of family and town life as it is a provocative mystery.

'Eleven Hours' by Pamela Erens

Down for discussing pregnancy and childbirth with your mother? Try this electric and unflinching two-hander. Lore, who is nine months pregnant, is about to give birth. A nurse, Franckline, provides sensitive support as Lore works through not only the visceral experiences of her body but also the events and choices that have brought her to that hospital bed. As we get to know the two women more intimately, we discover they have more in common than first appears. Read along as a chance pairing deepens, laying these two individuals bare.

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'Civilwarland in Bad Decline' by George Saunders

As well as being Mother's Day month, May is Short Story Month, so what better way to celebrate both than reading some classic short fiction? First published in 1996 and now being reissued in paperback, Civilwarland is a wickedly funny collection that feels as fresh as ever. From the titular first story, set in a historical (and hysterical) theme park under siege, to a tale about a resourceful clerk at a Total Recall-esque virtual reality service, Saunders provides us with a quirky yet totally empathetic view of American culture.

'Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars' by Nathalia Holt

When you hang out with your mom, what do you picture the two of you doing? Is it sitting on the couch in front of The Bletchley Circle? Or otherwise searching out the unsung women of scientific endeavors? Here's one for you history buffs: Rise of the Rocket Girls is an intriguing account of the young, female "human computers" who worked at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Be inspired by their work on America's first satellite and other groundbreaking projects, against the social backdrop of the Space Age, slowly changing gender norms, and the dawn of computers.